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Federal budget: Relief planned to close Canada-U.S. price gap

Attempt to help fed-up Canadian consumers a priority in Flaherty’s austerity budget plan.

The effort to level the playing field for Canadian shoppers is expected to highlight a budget aimed mainly at balancing Ottawa’s books in time for the 2015 election. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government signalled in the Oct. 16, 2013 throne speech it would take action on Canada-U.S. price differentials.

“It’s still a priority,” Flaherty said in a weekend interview with CBC. “And it’s dealt with in the budget.”

The government will promise legislation to ban the practice of “country pricing,” a source said. Under this practice, multinational companies have different price lists for products sold in Canada and those being sold in the U.S. The Retail Council of Canada has said price lists for products for Canadian retailers can be between 10 per cent and 50 per cent higher.

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Consumer-friendly measures will take priority in the budget. Flaherty will earmark more than $200 million over several years to expand Internet access in rural communities. The government also wants to see more wireless competition and the unbundling of cable TV packages for consumers, as well the end of hidden credit card and debit card fees.

Beyond that, the budget is expected to focus on job training, business incentives and support for aboriginals. Flaherty will also trumpet the government’s commitment to $5 billion a year in infrastructure spending over the next decade. However, that spending was announced in last year’s budget.

Above all, the Harper government is committed to wiping out its $17.9-billion budget deficit by 2015. That’s expected to be an election year and balancing the books will allow the Conservatives to dangle personal tax breaks before voters. That means no major new spending programs or across-the-board tax breaks now.

Flaherty, who was having fun Monday tweeting possible choices of his tie for budget day, will stand to address Parliament at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The budget is expected to include:

Plans to go from a $5.5-billion federal budget deficit in 2014 to a $3-billion-plus surplus the following year.

Earmarking $2 billion beginning in 2016 for a revamped First Nations education strategy. (It may be a reallocation of existing financial commitments).

Freezing departmental budgets and a reduction in public service sick days.

A clampdown on charities laundering money for organized crime or terrorists.

Putting billions of dollars worth of federal assets on the auction block.

To link Canadians more effectively to available jobs, an enhancement of $175 million spent in 2013 on apprenticeships for young people and aboriginal job-training programs. Also, tax breaks for businesses that hire new employees.

Meanwhile, Premier Kathleen Wynne said she hopes Flaherty will bring in an infrastructure investment strategy that helps Ontario and other provinces.

“We are doing our bit here, $35 billion over the next three years, and I would expect to see in the federal budget an investment strategy that would allow Ontario to partner with the federal government and with municipalities to build the infrastructure — roads, bridges and transit — that are needed in this province,” she said in Newmarket.

Repeating the province’s complaint that Ottawa is trimming $641 million in transfer payments to Ontario, she said, “They seem to be treating Ontario differently than other provinces (and) . . . that doesn’t seem right to me. So I would expect an adjustment to that.”

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